on the even syllables. From this regular form, however, Shakspere deviates with great freedom, the commonest variations being the following:

1. The addition of an eleventh syllable; e.g.,

Which give some soil | perhaps | to my | behav | iours, I. ii. 42.

Then, Brutus, I have much mistook your pas sion, I. ii. 48.

And be not jealous on me, gentle Bru | tus, L. ii. 71.

Occasionally this extra syllable occurs in the middle of the line, at the main pause known as the caesura, which is most frequent after the third foot; e.g.,

The melting spirits of women, || then, country men, II. i. 122.

Brutus and Caesar : what should I be in that "Caesar," I. ii. 142.

2. Frequently what seems an extra syllable is to be slurred in reading; e.g., "spirits" in the line quoted above is a monosyllable. So

Being crossed | in conference by | some senators. I. ii. 188.

where "Being" is monosyllabic and "conference” dissyllabic. So also "whether" is a monosyl

lable in

See, whether | their bas | est met | al be ( not moved |

I. i. 65.

Whether Caesar will come forth | to-day |, or no | II. i. 194.

Similarly "Either" is a monosyllable in

Either led or driv | en, as | we point | the way |, IV. i. 23.

In some lines it is doubtful whether a syllable is to be slurred or sounded as a light extra syllable, as, e.g., "together" in

Write them together, yours is as fair | a name, I. ii. 144.

3. Sometimes an emphatic syllable stands alone as a foot, without an unaccented syllable; e.g., Speak, strike |, redress | Am I entreated, IL i. 55.

4. Short lines, lacking one or more feet, occur; e.g.,

Made in his concave shores, I. i. 51.

For that which is not in me, I. ii. 65.

5. Long lines of twelve or thirteen syllables occur; e.g.,

The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber, I. ii. 114.

None that I know will be, much that I fear may chance, II. iv. 32.

To mask thy monstrous visage? Seek none, conspiracy, II. i. 81.

Usually in such lines some words bearing the metrical accent are quite unemphatic in reading, as in the fourth foot of the first example.

6. Frequently, especially in the first foot, a trochee is substituted for an iambus, ie., the

accent falls on the odd instead of the even syllable; e.g.,

Being | mechanical, you ought not walk, I. i. 8.

Therefore, good Brutus, be prepared to hear, L. ii. 66.

When went there by an age | since the great flood, I. ii. 152.

Till then, my noble friend, | chew up on this, I. ii. 171.

It must be remembered, however, that some words have changed their pronunciation since Shakspere's time. Thus "compact" was usually accented on the last syllable, as in the following line,

But what compact mean you to have with us, III. i. 216 Again, from

Even at the base of Pompey's statuë, III. ii. 198,

we see that "statue" was sometimes trisyllabic, and from

Fearing to strengthen that impati-ence, II. i. 248, that "impatience" had four syllables.

Although differences between the language of Shakspere and that of our own day are obvious to the most casual reader, there is a

Language. risk that the student may underestimate the extent of these differences, and, assuming that similarity of form implies identity of meaning, miss the true interpretation. The most important instances of change of meaning are explained in the notes; but &

elearer view of the nature and extent of the contrast between the language of Julius Caesar and modern English will be gained by a classification of the most frequent features of this contrast. Some of the Shaksperean usages are merely results of the carelessness and freedom which the more elastic standards of the Elizabethan time permitted; others are forms of expression at that time quite accurate, but now become obsolete.

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(1.) NOUNS. (a) Shakspere frequently uses an abstract noun with "of" where modern English has an adjective. Thus in Hamlet, I. ii. 4, "brow of woe" woful brow, and in Twelfth Night, I. v. 77, "mouse of virtue" = virtuous mouse. So in Julius Caesar, I. ii. 109, "hearts of controversy" = controversial feelings, and in I. ii. 40, "passions of some difference" conflicting passions. Conversely in IV. ii. 16, "familiar instances" instances of familiarity.

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(b) Abstract nouns are often used in the plurai; e.g., "behaviours," I. ii. 42.

(2.) ADJECTIVES. Double superlatives occur; e.g., "most unkindest," III. ii. 193; "most boldest," III. i. 122.

(3.) PRONOUNS. (a) The nominative is often used for the objective, especially after prepositions; e.g., "save I," III. ii. 70; "save only he,' V. v. 69; "but we," III. i. 96.

(b) The possessive "its" did not come into common use until after the middle of the seven

teenth century, and in Shakspere, as in other early writers, we have "his"; e.g., "And that same eye. Did lose his lustre," I. ii. 123, 4. (c) Confusion between the personal and reflex. ive forms is common; e.g., "Submitting me unto the perilous night," I. iii. 47; "Here is himself,' III. ii. 207; “Myself have letters,” IV. iii. 172.

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(d) The ethical dative is commoner in Shaks pere than in modern speech; e.g., "He plucked me ope his doublet," I. ii. 271, 2.

(e) The modern distinction among the relative pronouns, who, which, that, as, is not observed; e.g., "a lion who glared," I. iii. 20; "a lamb That carries anger as the flint bears fire, Who, much enforced, shows a hasty spark," IV. iii. 110-112; "That gentleness And show of love as I was wont to have," I. ii. 33; "Under these hard conditions as this time Is like to lay upon us," I. ii. 174,5; "To such a man That is no fleering tell-tale," I. iii. 116-7.

(4.) VERBS. (a) A singular verb is often found with a plural subject; e.g., "Is Decius Brutus and Trebonius there?" I. iii. 148; "There is tears for his love," III. ii. 31; "Three parts of hìm Is ours," I. iii. 154, 5; "There's two or three of us," I. iii. 138. "I. In relative clauses where the relative pronoun refers to "you" used of one person, Shakspere frequently has a singular verb; e.g., “You know that you are Brutus that speaks this," IV. iii. 13.